Friction-regulator for reversing motion of spinning-mules



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. ASHNESS. FRICTION REGULATOR FOR RBVBRSING MOTION 0F SPINNING MULES.No. 469,414. Patented Feb. 23, 1892.

(No Model.)

. W. ASHNESS; PRIGTION'REGULATORPOR REVERSINGMOTION- OF SPINNING MULES.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented Feb. 23, 1892.

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WITNEESES IHVEQPJTDFN 0 AT TY 5.

E NURRIQ PET as co., mom-u-mu msmao (No Model.) 3,She-'etsSheet 3 r w.ASHNESS. FRICTION REGULATOR FOR REVERSING MOTION 0P SPINNING MULES.-

N0. 169,4154. r Patented Feb. 23, 189.2.

WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM ASHNESS, OF ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

FRICTION-REGULATOR FOR REVERSING MOTION OF SPlNNlNG-MULES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 469,414, dated February23, 1892. Application filed September 21, 1891. Serial No. 406,853. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM ASHNESS, of Andover, in the county of Essexand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Friction-Regulators for Reversing Motion ofSpinning-Mules, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has relation to spinning-m ules generally, and isparticularly well adapted for application to what is commonly knownamong spinning artisans as the Davis and Furber mule.

In the process of mule-spinning it is usual in the spinning of a stretchof yarn, during the first part of the outward 'run of the carriage andwhile the roving is being delivered, to run the spindles at acomparatively slow speed, then to ship the belt and run the spindles ata comparatively high speed to finish the twist, then to again ship thebelt and suddenly stop the twisting operation of the spindles, reversethe motion of the latter, back off, and wind the yarn upon the cop onthe inward run of the carriages. In changing from the twisting operationwhen the spindles are run at their highest speed to the back-off motion,in which the movement of the spindles is reversed, the operation is soabrupt and sudden as to have a damaging effect upon the machine as wellas the spinnin g process. Of the breakage of ropes, belts, laces, andspindle-bands, and many other parts of the machine by far the greaternumber occur at the moment of change from twisting to backing off.

It is the object of my invention to overcome the difficulties andobjections before mentioned, and this I accomplish by providing meanswhereby the backing'off clutch may not be thrown into operation untilafter the twisting motion of the machine shall have been graduallyslowed down.

The invention will first be described in connection with the annexeddrawings and letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of thisspecification, and then be pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a front View of a portion of amule-head having my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a sectionalside view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail top plan view of the timingdevice,

hereinafter more particularly described. Fig. 4- is a side View indetail of'the clutch-sleeve shipping means and devices immediatelyconnected therewith.

Similar letters of reference designate similar parts or features, as thecase may be, wherever they occur.

In the illustration of my invention. I have, for the sake of clearness,omitted to show more of the old parts of a spinning-mule than isnecessary to an understanding of my improvements. V

In the drawings, a designates a the frame of the mule-head.

l) is the driving or main shaft, upon which is mounted the rim-bandwheel a, the fast speed pulley d, the slow-speed pulley e, thebacking-off and drawing-in pulley f, the loose pulley g, and thedrawing-in pinion-gear h.

portion of i designates the center shaft, upon which is mounted therim-band pulley j, constructed to serve, also, as a femalefriction-clutch part, the clutch-sleeve 75, provided upon one end with amalefrictionclutch part i, adapted to cooperate with the female clutchpart, the draw ing-in gear 172, and the drawing-in clutch n. The gear mand movable part of the clutch n are connected with the clutch-sleeve713.

0 p are idle-gears connecting the drawing in pinion h with thedrawing-in gear m.

(1 is the back-off shipping-lever, which is fulcru med upon a stud orstandard 7*, a spring 8 (partially shown in Fig. 1) being connected withone end and the other end being provided with an inwardly-projectingfinger 23, adapted to bear against thelower edge of the twist-slide uwhen the latter is in raised position, as is represented in Fig. 2. Theother right-angled arm n of the said lever is forked or bifurcated andis arranged to operate in a groove of the clutch-sleeve'k. (See Fig. 4.)

w design ates a worm wheel or disk adapted to turn on a journal-stud a,connected with a bracket 11 pivotally connected with the frame a. Thesaid disk w when in lowered position is arranged to be engaged andturned by the worm-sleeve .2, connected with the idle-gear o.

a is a rock-rod vertically arranged in bearings connected with the frameand provided at its upper end with a finger 6', extending horizontallyto a point beneath the disk 10, so

that in the rotation of the latter a pin 0, ar

ranged in one of the holes 61', formed in the disk, may be brought intocontact with the said finger, move it, and rock the rod a. The said rodis provided at its lower end with a horizontal arm 6', in the free endof which is a pin f, which extends through a slot (not shown) formed inan arm g, pivoted at one end upon a stud h, the opposite end of the saidarm g being provided with a stud t", which is adapted to be moved backof and away from the adjacent end of the shippinglever q.

j designates an angular arm connected with the upper end of thetwist-slide 7.6 and extending under the bracket 1 to raise and lower thesame as the said slide is raised and falls. gated hub 70, (see Fig. 1,)with which one end of a cord Z is connected. The said cord extends overa pulley m and is provided on its free end with a weight n.

The use of my invention in the operation of spinning a stretch of yarnmay be described as follows: Upon starting the carria-ge upon itsoutward run and while the roving is being delivered from the rolls thedriving-belt will be upon the pulley e and the spindles will be operatedby the smaller of the rim-band pulleys c at a comparatively slow speed.After the delivery of roving shall have ceased or subsequent thereto thedriving-belt may be shipped from pulley e to pulley d and the spindleswill be driven at a relatively high rate through the medium of thelarger-of the rim-band pulleys c and connections. Just before thetwisting operation is completed the belt will be shipped from pulley clto the pulleys f g, which normally have no effect by way of operatingthe machine. Upon this last-mentioned shipping of the belt beingeffected the twist-slide u will be released and drawn down in the usualway, leaving the finger 25 free from contact therewith, as shown in Fig.4; but the pin 2" on arm g, resting behind the end of the shipperleverq, will still hold the said lever against movement by the spring 5. Whenthe twistslide a drops, the angular arm j will also be drawn down,lowering the bracket y, so that the worm-disk 10 will be broiight intoengagement with the worm-sleeve 2', resulting 1 in the turning of thesaid disk until the pin c is brought into contact with the free end ofthe finger b. After the belt is shipped from the pulley d to the pulleysf g and before the operation of the clutch mechanism 4 the rotation ofthe spindles and consequent twisting of the yarn will continue under themoment-um of the machine; but the move ment of the latter will begradually, though rapidly, slowed down. It is during the action of themachine under this momentive force and while its speed is beinggradually decreased that what I term the timing mechanism, consisting ofthe worm-disk w and its adjuncts, is operated. When the? pin 0 comesinto contact with the finger Z),

The disk to is provided with an elonit will press the said fingeroutward, move the rod a and arm 8, drawing the stud d on the arm g awayfrom behind the shipper-lever q, and allow the said lever to be 0peratedby the spring .9 to move the clutchsleeve 7c so as to engage the maleclutch part Zwith the co-operating female clutch part and effect areverse motion of the spindles to accomplish the backing-off of theyarn. The lever q will now be moved by the usualmeans to move theclutch-sleeve 7c in the opposite direction, connecting the parts of thedrawing-in clutch n, which will cause the running in of the carriage andthe winding of the yarn on the cop. Between the time of the shipping ofthe belt from the high-speed pulley d to the pulleys f g and the releaseof the shipping-lever q but a few moments will have elapsed. Still thetime will have been sufficient to gradually check the speed of themachine and give it a tendency to stop in its movement, so that when thelever q is released to accomplish the operation of engaging thefriction-clutchand effecting the backing off no appreciable jar orconcussion will occur. When the lever q is moved back to normalposition, the spring 0' will effect areturn of the rod or and itsadjuncts to their normal position. As the worm-disk w is revolved the.cord Z will be wound'upon the hub 70', so that when the said disk isreleased from engagement with the worm-sleeve (as it will be when thetwistslide it and angular arm j are raised) the weight n, operating bygravity upon the cord, will unwind it and turn the disk back to itsnormal position. By adjusting the pin 0 in the holes (1 of the worm-diskthe release of the lever (1 may be effected sooner or later after theshipping of the belt and the falling of the twist-slide.

The gist of my inventionresides in the timing mechanism and itsadjuncts, whereby the operation of the clutch-lever and backing ofi isdelayed until after the belts for effecting the twisting of the yarnhave been shipped and the operation of the machine under momentive forcehas to some extent been reduced in speed with a tendency to stop.

The construction and arrangement of the timing mechanism may of coursebe varied without departing from the nature or spirit of the invention.

Having thus explained the nature of my invention and described a way ofmaking and using the same, though without attempting to set forth all ofthe forms of construction or modes of use, I declare that what I claim1s 1. A spinning-mule comprising in its construction a driving-shaft, aclutch mechanism for setting in operation the backing-off devices, alever for operating the said clutch mechanism, a spring for moving thesaid lever to operate the clutch mechanism, a looking device for holdingthe said lever against the stress of the said spring, and a trippingmechanism and connections intermediate of ping the latter, as set forth.

the driving-shaft and locking device for tripter out of and allowing itto move into operative position, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of I 5 two snbscribingwitnesses, this 5th day'of Septemberg'A.D. 1891.

2. The combination, with the spring 3, clutch-sleeve 7c, andshipping-lever q, of a locking device for holding the lever against thestress of the spring, the driving-shaft, a movable tripping mechanismand its connections intermediate of the said shaft and looking devicesfor tripping the latter, the twistslide, and connections between thetwist-slide and tripping mechanism for moving the lat- XVILLIAM ASHNESS.

\Vitnesses:

ARTHUR W. ORossLEY, A, D. HARRISON.

